San Tan Charter School Continues to Expand its Montessori Program with the Hiring of a New Upper Elementary Lead Teacher

Mrs. Mary Navarro will Join the School’s Montessori Program in the Fall of 2020

GILBERT, Arizona—As part of San Tan Charter School’s plan to expand their successful “school within a school” Montessori Program, the school has just hired a new Upper Elementary Lead Teacher.

As Chief Customer Officer and Assistant Superintendent Rita Sippel noted, Mrs. Mary Navarro will join San Tan Charter School’s Montessori Program in the Fall of 2020. The Arizona native and Chandler resident has spent the past 10 years in Montessori Education—first as an Assistant and then as a Lead Teacher and Special Education Director.

Navarro earned a bachelor’s degree in Educational Studies from Arizona State University, and a Post-Bac in Special Education from Rio Salado College; she will soon earn her master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University, Sippel said.

Navarro also maintains her Arizona State Teaching Certification in both Elementary and Special Education, as well as two Lower Elementary and one Upper Elementary Montessori Certifications from Houston Montessori Center and the South Mountain Montessori Teacher Preparation Program.

“She is passionate about social emotional learning and is currently in training to become a Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor,” Sippel said, adding that Navarro hopes to grow San Tan Charter School’s Montessori Upper Elementary Program from fourth through sixth grade in the coming years.

“She is excited to bring her Montessori experience and state standard knowledge into the classroom to help foster the whole child approach within our charter school community” Sippel said.

In addition to the hiring of Mrs. Navarro, San Tan Charter School is actively working on growing their Montessori Program in other ways. For example, the school is adding two more classrooms, as well as expanding their offerings for the kindergarten program.

As Sippel noted, the school will now offer two choices for Kindergarten, which will allow parents to choose what they believe will be best for their child based on prior Montessori experience, age, personality and preference.

“Kindergarten aged children who are 4 ½ to 6 ½ years old can be in a Primary Montessori classroom for their third year as a Montessori student for their kindergarten year, and kindergarten aged children 4 ½ to 6 ½ years of age can also be in a Montessori classroom of all kindergarten students for their third year as a Montessori student,” Sippel said.

Sippel said she and the rest of the teachers and staff at San Tan Charter School are excited about the expansion of the Montessori Program, which was the first of its kind in the Gilbert-Queen Creek areas.

“We are going into our fifteenth year of loving and serving our community and providing a Montessori experience for our families. San Tan Charter School is financially and structurally prepared to support the success of the Montessori school’s growth and development,” Sippel said.

***ADDITIONAL PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST***For more information about San Tan Charter School’s Montessori Program and/or to speak with staff members about the upcoming expansion, please contact Rita Sippel at 480-222-0811.

About San Tan Charter School:

San Tan Charter School is a Kinder-12th grade public non-profit tuition free charter school with two campuses in the East Valley within minutes of each other. The Power campus is a Junior High/High school serving students in grades 7-12 and the Recker campus is an elementary school with a private preschool serving students PreK-6. The school uses a Love and Logic® approach to classroom management that is focused on building relationships and communicating with respect. The school focuses on “Education with a Purpose,” which means the teachers encourage their students’ love of learning, which enables them to face challenges and develop critical thinking skills. San Tan Charter School also offers individualized learning plans, and as a college and career ready school, they are focused on maximizing each student’s intellectual development through Honors/AP classes, Concurrent/Dual Enrollment classes and robust elective choices. For more information, please visit https://santancharterschool.com/